APPLICATION REPORT | OFFSHORE & SUBSEA


has ever built. It has a maximum lifting capacity of 5,000 tons and it will be used to install wind farms, and to decommission oil platforms - both functions that help to reduce CO2 emissions. As with Liebherr’s cranes on the Orca, the compact design of the HLC 295000 contributes to the crane ability to serve. The base column, at only 16.8 metres diameter, is unique in the market. It requires little space on deck and offers more storage space for transportation. Its maximum lifting height of 175 metres enables the HLC 295000 to operate at the required height for large towers without special measures. In April the Orion underwent its naming


ceremony and took a series of offshore testing, including several overload tests, which it successfully passed. It set sail for final departure to Arcadis Ost I, a windfarm under construction in the Baltic. Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO, DEME Group, emphasised the size and height needs of offshore wind: “The new era in the offshore energy industry will be dominated by multi-megawatt turbines, jackets and components,” he said. “The combination of load capacity and superior lifting heights of ‘Orion’ will play an important role in helping the industry successfully navigate the energy transition. In decommissioning, its focus on dismantling parts as large as possible will reduce resources on transport, which means the Liebherr crane can function at ‘both ends’ of the contest for greener energy.”


VESTDAVIT A similarly green-fuelled Service Operation Vessel (SOV) is being built in Turkey for Danish shipowner Esvagt. It will be powered by batteries and dual-fuel engines and is being fitted with a new type of heavy- duty davit for lifting and lowering larger workboats into and out of the water to


R The HLC 29500 installed on the Orion is the largest crane Liebherr has ever made


service wind turbines. Norwegian company Vestdavit is providing five davit systems for the vessel - two large FF-30000 dual- point workboat davits which have a unique solution for flexible hook distances, as well as a pair of L-3500 liferaft davits and one PLRH-5000 davit for fast rescue craft. The FF-30000 system, which has a


heavyweight lifting capacity of 25 tons, has been specially adapted to handle Esvagt’s newly in-house developed Safe Transfer Boat 15, (STB15), a workboat that is longer, wider and heavier than existing craft used in the offshore wind sector. It has a length of 15 metres, against the industry standard of 12 metres. “The greater dimensions and weight pose handling challenges for existing davits to ensure that personnel and equipment can be deployed safely and reliably under


variable sea conditions,” says Vestdavit’s sales and business development director, Bjørnar Dahle. The solution was to adapt the so-called


F-frame (FF) system. It is a large frame with no structure behind or underneath the boat to be lifted (the ‘daughter craft’); the main structure is all aft or forward of it. This allows it to lift daughter crafts of widely varying shapes and volumes. The FF-30000 has two lifting points,


to attach at the bow and the stern of the daughter, with a dual-winch system with each winch having its own autonomous tension function so they can operate independently of each other. “This dual-point lifting functionality


permits a wider weather window as the vessel can still launch and recover daughter craft even in rough sea conditions,” says Dahle. Computer augmentation assists the operator with a safe launch and recovery in the most difficult conditions But Dahle says that probably the


smartest and most impressive feature of the system is the flexible hook distance: the aft lifting wire, which can be adjusted forward to cater for smaller boats with a shorter distance between the bow and the stern lifting points. The SOV is lined up to work at Hornsea


R Esvagt’s new service vessel will have heavy-duty Vestdavit davits onboard


2 - the world’s largest offshore wind farm - off the UK’s east coast after scheduled delivery in late 2024. A fair wind would seem to be blowing for offshore lifting as long as it can rise to the challenges. ●


www.hoistmagazine.com | November 2022 | 45


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